Short-term ecstasy, long-term agony

Possible lengthy loss of Nocioni tempers joy for surging Bulls

Bulls 105, Wizards 90

During the Bulls' impressive 105-90 thrashing of the Wizards on Friday night, Andres Nocioni wore a protective boot, street clothes and a frown.

Caught in a United Center hallway afterward, which wasn't difficult given that the valuable forward was on crutches, Nocioni tried to smile.

But his typical cat-ate-the-canary attempt at innocence couldn't hide the facts: Nocioni suffered a relapse of the plantar fasciitis in his right foot Thursday night in Cleveland. And the Bulls are preparing to play the next month without him.

That would be 13 more missed games for a player whose manic energy and long-range shooting ability already have been missed badly in seven of the previous eight games.

Nocioni played 15 minutes against the Cavaliers and was limping noticeably in the postgame locker room.

"I feel a lot of pain," Nocioni said. "I feel really frustrated." Nocioni said team doctors ordered him to use crutches and put no pressure on his foot for five days. After that, he said he would need to walk in a protective boot for two to three weeks while undergoing treatment.

The Nocioni news put a damper on the Bulls' third straight victory and second straight against an Eastern Conference playoff team.

Chris Duhon's second career ejection, with 2: 13 remaining in the third quarter, enraged an already energetic Bulls team that dominated the fourth quarter. Official Pat Fraher called Duhon for a loose ball foul after he tipped the ball from Gilbert Arenas and Arenas dived on his head during the ensuing scrum. Duhon erupted and received two quick technicals.

Arenas hit four straight free throws as part of 18 straight points he scored over the next 8:40 for the Wizards, who trimmed a 14-point deficit to three on multiple occasions.

But the Bulls, with Thabo Sefolosha playing meaningful minutes down the stretch, ripped off an 11-2 fourth-quarter run capped by Kirk Hinrich's steal and fast-break layup and an Adrian Griffin steal that led to Hinrich assisting Luol Deng on an alley-oop dunk.